In 1982, a longtime friend gave me a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy as a birthday present. I told her, gently, that it was utterly inappropriate; my life was far too unsettled. She thrust the puppy in my arms, looked me in the eye, and said, "This will help to settle you."

Summertime is all about enjoying the great outdoors with your whole family, but with weeds and grasses all doing their part to fill the air with pollen, the summer can become stressful for a large portion of the population -- and their pets -- that suffer from allergies.

Essential oils and aromatherapy are useful aspects of integrative veterinary medicine and as more people become aware of ways we can use our patients' noses to assist their health, it becomes useful to learn a bit about the subject.

As someone who has always shared her home with pets, I have come to develop a special relationship with the family veterinarian. She performed the first check up on Monty when we brought him home as a tiny puppy.

Like it or not, tax day is just a week away. And whether you have to pay Uncle Sam or are expecting a refund, you're likely thinking of ways you can hold on to more of your hard-earned cash in the coming year.